Eddie Sefko: ‘Heat Don’t Have Enough Depth’

SAN ANTONIO, TX - JUNE 15: Ray Allen #34 of the Miami Heat looks on from the bench against the San Antonio Spurs during Game Five of the 2014 NBA Finals at the AT&T Center on June 15, 2014 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Miami Heat (Credit: Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

We expected another epic seven-game series.

Instead, we’ve gotten a bludgeoning.

Aside from Game 2 of the NBA Finals – Miami squeaked out a two-point win in San Antonio – the Spurs have dominated LeBron James and the Heat, winning three games by an average of 18.3 points.

Isn’t this embarrassing?

“Well, it is from the Heat perspective, of course – but it’s not totally surprising,” Dallas Morning News NBA writer Eddie Sefko said on Ferrall on the Bench. “Let’s look at the facts. The Western Conference was so much tougher this year than the East. San Antonio had to do a lot to win 62 games. That was a hard chore in the Western Conference – and it’s not like they were (just) beating (bad teams). They had to do it against a really tough bunch of teams. They went 0-4 against Houston this year and still won 62 games. That shows you how tough the West was.”

“And I think the fact that the Spurs just have so much depth, (they) have so many players that can hurt you – maybe not for a whole game, but they can hurt you at times during a game. I think that makes a big difference, and Miami is obviously paying a price for not having much depth.”

Indeed, the Heat have more turnovers than assists. LeBron James has more turnovers than assists. Boris Diaw, a power forward, had nine assists in Game 4. Mario Chalmers, a point guard, had nine assists in Games 3 and 4 combined.

“They are the definition of a team, really,” Sefko said of the Spurs. “They of course have their stars, but they all know how to play together – all of them.”

Even Patty Mills, who was called “Fatty Mills” last season. The 25-year-old scored 14 points in Game 4 and is shooting 8-of-15 (53.3 percent) from three-point range in the series.

“They got guys now that understand and get it,” Sefko said. “And the Spurs are masters at putting together guys that fit within their system.”

Believe it or not, the only team the Spurs haven’t led by at least two games this postseason is the Dallas Mavericks, who pushed San Antonio to seven games in the first round. And truthfully, that series could have easily gone the other way. Three of San Antonio’s wins were by six points or fewer.

“Nobody else has pushed them that far yet, that’s for sure,” Sefko said. “The Mavericks did a really good job. And Rick Carlisle – he’s not Gregg Popovich, but he’s certainly on the next level. He’s done a terrific job figuring out how to coach his team to get the most out of them. They played the Spurs great. They mixed up the coverages really well. They baffled them a little bit by switching everything one game and not switching anything the next game. And finally, the smoke and mirrors kind of wore off there in Game 7 when they got blown out. But if they had pulled out Game 4 (a 93-89 Spurs win), it might have been different. It might very well have been different.”

Instead, the Spurs are one win away from their fifth NBA title. Game 5 is Sunday at 8 p.m. ET.

“The dominance has been pretty thorough in this series – and that’s a tribute to the Spurs,” Sefko said. “It’s not necessarily a real indictment on LeBron or Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh and those guys. Right now, they’re just not good enough. They don’t have enough horses.”